Poultry stuffing horn



Dec. 5, 1961 J. A. McDEvlTT 3,011,297

POULTRY STUFFING HORN INVENTOR C'mA/caV/ZZ ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1961 J'. A. MoDEvn-T PoULTRy-sTUFF1NG HORN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 27, 1957 aired States Pater 3,011,297 POULTRY STUFFING HGRN `laines A. McDevitt, Mount Vernon, (litio, assignor` to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y.,a corporation of New York l,

Filed Nov. 27, 1957, Ser. No. 699,371

Claims. (Cl. 53261) This invention relates to a poultry stung horn.

Thefinvention is more particularly concerned with a horn forpfacilitating the introduction of poultry into elastic bags. A primary object of the invention is to provide an expansib'l'e horn over which an elastic bag adapted to receive poultry directedrthereinto through the horn may be placed, means manually operable by one hand'of an operator to' expand the horn and the bag thereon while the operator is inserting the poultryvwith the other hand, and means for again returning the horn to its initial, collapsed conditionrafter insertion of the poultry into'the bag and removal of the bag from the horn.

Another object of the invention is to provide an expansible and contractible poultry receiving horn embodying a plurality of arms for reception within an elastic bag together with meansl for uniformly expanding said arms with a resulting stretching of hte bag for reception of the poultry therein lwithout damaging thek tender skin thereof. vl Y A further object is to'provied a novel hollow tapered expansible horn for receiving poultry to be bagged and whereinthe horn embodies a plurality of circumferenv referred to.

' 2 thereof disposed Within apertures in the blocks 16 and secured therein -by means' 20. The said yoke 18includes ahorizontal connecting or bight portion 21' later A second inverted U-shaped yoke 22 of' cylindrical cross section has the ends ofthe opposite parallel legs 23 thereof disposed Within the apertures in blocks 17 and secured therein by means 24. l

The horn proper 25 is of hollow tapered expansible and retractible sleeve-like form and the vsame comprises abott'om section 26, a top section 27 anda pair of opposite sideV sections 28. The sections are all of the same 'transverse sectional contour and e-ach includes a central portion 29 and opposite side portions 36) in angular relation to the central Aportion and which side portions in the closed position of the horn overlap as is clearly indicated in FIGURE l. The sections 26 27 and 28 provide spaced bag receiving arms.

Each hornsection is provided with a U-bracket 31 at the wider end thereof and centrally of the portion 29 'and each section is further provided with aV second U- bracket 32 intermediate the ends thereof and the brackets tially disposed arms receivable within an elastic bag, and

wherein said arms are uniformly expanded by controlled pneumatic means for uniformly stretching the Abag for reception of the poultry therein and for subsequent contraction of the 'bag into lirm contact with the skin of the poultrywithout damage thereto.

31 and 32 are longitudinally aligned as is clearly indi- Hcated inFIGURE 2.

The brackets 31 include laterally"v spaced ears 31a andthe legs 19 of the yoke 18 extend through the apertured ears 31a von the opposite side sections 28 of the horn while the bight portion 21 extends `through the apen tured ears 31a on the top section 2,'7. The apertured ears 31al of the bracket 31 on the bottom horn section 26 receive the central portion of the bearing bar 14. v

Preferably a collar 33 is disposed between the legs of eac-h bracket in surrounding relation to the yoke 18 and and the bar 14 and secured thereto.

By the above described construction the horn sections 26, 27, 28 have their larger ends pivotally supported on fixed axes for'inward and outward swinging movement of the `smaller bag receiving ends of the sections as will be apparent from FIGURE 2. o

A bell crank lever 35 is pivotally supported on the bight of yoke 22, and a like bell crank lever 35 is' pivotally supported lon each leg 23 of the yoke 22. A further bell crank lever35 is pivotally vsupported on the bearing bar 15. .Corresponding legs 36 of the bell crank FIGURE .3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the' horn as observed in the plane of line 3 3 on FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a more or less diagrammatic longitudinal' sectional View of one of the air cylinders embodied in the hom structure.

Referring now in detail to the drawings. The improved poultry stuffing horn structure will be seen to comprise a supporting base 10 which includes a pair of laterally spaced parallel side plates 11V each of which is provided with an apertured foot 12 .at-each end thereof adapting the frame forrigidsupport on a table or other working surface by means extending through the apertures in the feet, and into thetable. The Vside plates 11 are rigidly interconnected by tie bars 13,v one thereof extending across between the vplates adjacent'ea'ch opposed pair of feet 12, and also, by a pair of bearing bars 14 and 15 disposed above the tie bars 13 as is clearly indicated in FIGURE 3.

Each side plate 11 is provided with a pair of apertured blocks 16 and 17 which are disposed'atthe upper edge thereof and in horizontally spaced relation and the blocks on each s-ide plate yare transversely aligned with those on the other side plate. v

An inverted U-shaped yoke 1S Vof.cylindrical crossy levers 35 are pivotally connected tothe brackets 32 VasV indicated at36a.. Anair cylinder 37 is pivotally supported at one end 'thereof by means of spaced ears 38 disposed on t-he outer sides of the bracket ears` 31a with the yoke 18 .and the bearing -bar 14 extending through the ears 38 whereby the cylinders are capableof swinging Y v toward and from the respective brackets 32.

nach ey-linder `37 is provided with a piston sa (FIG- v,URE 4) having a piston rod 4G, and the free ends of the piston rods `di) are. pivot-ally connected to correspondingv legs y41 of the bell crank levers 35 .as at l42, whereby uponv axial movement of 4the piston rods the bell crank levers will swing on their pivotal connections with yoke 22 andthe bearingbar 15 with a resulting swinging of the horn`V sections about the yoke 18 and the bearing bar 14. The

four air cylinders 37 are each provided with an aperture 43 adjacent one end thereof in which is disposed one end "of an air nipple 44 whose opposite end is in communication with an air line 45.

An oper-ating Valve 46 having an exhaust port 47, and kan air pressure regulator `4,8 having an inlet connector 49 is in communication with the valve 46 through 45a' is in communication with 'the air `line through connector The horn is normally in contracted form as indicated Y in FEGURE 3 and an elastic poultry receiving bag B is v telescoped over the smaller endof the horn as indicated by dot-and-dash lines 4in FIGURE 3, it being understood that the cylinder springs 5l yieldably retain the horn inA In ythis contractthe contracted, bag receiving position. ed position of the horn, the valve stern is in the upper position, and air from the pressure regulator 48 is blocked olic at the valve 46 and the air line or manifold 45 is bled through the valve exhaust port 46a.

With the bag B positioned as in FIGURE 3 the valve stem is moved into the valve d6 and air passes from the pressure regulator 48, through the valve 46 into the air line or manifold 45 and thence into the horn section operating cylinders 37 whereby the piston rods do impart clockwise rotation to the bell crank levers 3S with aA resulting expansion of the horn as indicated in FIGURE 2, and a resulting stretching of the elastic bag B, whereupon poultry may be readily pushed into `the expanded bag. Thereafter the valve 46 is operated to relieve the air pressure within-the cylinders and the bag with the enclosed poultry 4is moved off the smaller ends of the horn sections 2d, 27, Z8 and the bag contracts into firm binding contact with the poultry without danger of damaging the skin thereof. At this point, it is to be observed that the springs Si exert only such pressure on the pistons 39 as is required to return the horn sections to their contracted position indicated in FEGURE 3.

By the provision of an air cylinder for each horn section, the plastic bag B is subjected to uniform pressure throughout the circumference thereof and since the air pressure is readily yadjustable by the pressure regulater the bag may lbe opened just' enough to permit easy entrance .of the poultry thereinto.

form including a plurality of longitudinal sections having the wider ends thereof pivotally supported on fixed axes, an air cylinder for each of said sections having one end thereof pivotally supported on a respective one of said axes, a piston in each cylinder having a piston rod extending through the opposite end thereof, lever means connecting the free end of each piston rodwith a re- As the operator pushesfthe poultry through the horn with one hand, lthe valve do can be operated with the other hand thereby providing a very fast operation.

Having set forth the invention in accordance with a single speciiic structural'l embodiment thereof, what is claimed and desired to be secured by US. Letters Patent is:

l. For use in bagging poultry within an elastic bag, a poultry stuting horn of open elongated tapered form including a plurality of longitudinal sections having the wider ends thereof pivotally supported on lixed axes, anair cylinder lfor each of said sections having one end thereof pivotally supported on a respective one of said axes, a piston in each cylinder having a piston rod extending through the 4oppo-site end thereof, lever means connecting the free end of each ,piston rod with a respective horn section, and pressure regulated air supply means for said cylinders to move the pistons away from said pivoted ends with a resulting outward movementof the free ends of said sections for expanding a poultry receiving elastic bag disposed thereon at a controlled pressure. Y

2. The structure according to claim 1, together with a coil spring disposed within each cylinder in surrounding relation to the respective piston rod `and having one end thereof engaged with the respective piston and an end wall of the cylinder. Y f

3. A poultry stuing horn of Vopen elongated tapered spective horn section, and pressure regulated air supply means for said cylinders to move the pistons away from said pivoted ends with a resulting outward movement of the free ends of said sections for expanding a poultry receiving elastic bag disposed thereon at a controlled pressure, said air supply means including `a continuous air line in communication with said cylinders, any air llow control valve in communication with said air line, and a pressure regulatorin communication with said valve. t

4. Poultry bagging means comprising a fixed base including a pair of spaced parallel side plates, interconnected by a pair of spaced parallel bars, an inverted U-form yoke including a pair of legs and a bight portion disposed above each of said b-ars and the free ends of the legs yof the yokes beingsecured to said side plates, a hollow expansible and contractible horn disposed within said yokes and above said bars, said horn comprising a pair of vertically opposed longitudinal sections and a pair of laterally disposed longitudinal sections, said sections being tapered from one endthereof to the other and having their wider ends pivotally connected to one of said yokes and the corresponding bar, the opposite ends of said sections `being free and adapted to be received within the mouth of an electric bag, bell crank levers pivotally supported by the other yoke and the Vcorresponding bar, connections between the sections and corresponding arms of said rbell crank levers, andr pneumaticV means pivotally supported by'said first yoke and corresponding bar and operatively engaged with the other arms of said bell crank levers for moving the sections about their pivotal connection away from the axis of the horn for expanding a" poultry receiving elastic bag disposed upon the free end portions of said sections.

v 5. The structure according to claim 4 wherein said pneumatic means comprises an air cylinder for each section, a piston disposed within each cylinder, a piston rod extending through an end wall of each cylinder and connected to a respective one of said other arms of the bell crank levers, a continuous air line in communication with said cylinders, an air control valve in communication withsaid air line and a pressure regulator in communication with said valve.

6. The structure according to claim 5 together with a horn section retracting coil spring surrounding each piston rod and lhaving one end thereoffengaged with the respective piston and the opposite end thereof engaged with an end wall of the cylinder.' y

7. The structure according to claim 1wherein the air Asupply means comprises a manifold surrounding the horn sections and having 4a direct connection with each horn connected cylinder.

8. A poultry stuiiing horn of open elongated tapered form 'including a plurality of longitudinal sections having the wider ends thereof pivotally supported on ixed es, an air cylinder for each of said sections having one end thereof pivotally supported on` a respectivey one'of said axes, a piston in, each cylinder having a piston rod extending through the opposite end thereof, lever means connecting the free end of cach piston rod with `a respective horn section, and pressure regulated air supply means for said cylinders to move the pistons away from said pivoted endswith a resulting outward movement of the free ends of said sections for expanding a poultry receiving elastic bag disposed thereon at a controlled pressure, the air supply meansincluding a manifold surrounding the horn sections and having a direct connection with each horn connected cylinder, an air supply line connected with the manifold, and a manually operable control valve in said supply line.

9. Poultry bagging means comprising a lixed base including a plurality of bars arranged generally in end-toend relation, a hollow expansible and contractable horn disposed generally within said bars, said horn comprising a pai-r of vertically opposed longitudinal sections and a pair of laterally disposed longitudinal sections, said sections being tapered from one end thereof to the other and having their wider ends pivotally connected to said bars, the opposite ends of said sections being free and adapted to be received within the mouth of an elastic bag, levers pivotally supported by said base, connections between said sections and corresponding ones of said levers, and pneumatic means pivotally connected to said -bars and operatively engaged with said levers for moving said sections about their pivotal connections raway from the axis of said horn for expanding a poultry receiving elastic bag disposed upon the free end portions of said sections.

10. A poultry bagging structure for bagging poultry within an elastic bag comprising a hollow poultry receiving horn including a plurality of elongated sections pivotally supported at corresponding ends thereof, the opposite ends of said sectionsbeing receivable within an elastic bag, means normally contracting said sections about their pivotal connections for admission of said ends into said bag, and pressure regulated pneumatic means operatively engaged with said sections for eX- panding same about their pivotal connections with a resulting pressure controlled distention of the elastic bag for admission of the poultry thereinto, said pneumatic means comprising an air cylinder operatively engaged with each horn section, and said first means comprising a spring disposed within each air cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

